I am not saying you are not one, or are a good/bad one. There are, obviously, a large amount of interpretations (denominations) of Christians.

I commonly see people, especially people who are NOT Christians, say things like... "That is not very Christian of you." To which I respond, "how do you know?" LOL

So again, there is no right or wrong answer and I am not trying to pick a fight or anything... (Really, we might just have some common ground here. That is important to me if it is so.) What does being a Christian mean to you?

To me, it means simply this... Being a Christian means that you have...

1. Admitted your spiritual need. Admit you are a sinner.

2. Believe that Jesus Christ died for YOU on the cross.

3. Received Jesus Christ into your heart and life.

4. Repent and be willing to turn from your sin.

After that, live your life as the Spirit moves you. Pray for guidance and follow where that guidance (your heart) leads.

To me, it means simply this... Being a Christian means that you have...

1. Admitted your spiritual need. Admit you are a sinner.

2. Believe that Jesus Christ died for YOU on the cross.

3. Received Jesus Christ into your heart and life.

4. Repent and be willing to turn from your sin.

Can I add a few?

Picked mass over the NFL, Parked in a handicapped space and had an epiphany afterwards, Had a Mickey D's fish sandwich on a Friday during Lent and cringed when someone said, "Jesus, Mary and Dale Earnhardt Jr....."

Well, there are people who ARE Christians and ones who PRETEND they are!
Jesus knows who is and who isn't!

During the last days there is to be a great falling away from the faith. The pretenders are just helping prove the Bible is right on!

(so are the anti-religion groups that keep squawking about getting their little feelings hurt because someone believes in God)

No matter what anyone does, someone some where will be offended some how!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MY BLESSINGS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grandma (RB), Chester, Angel, Chip
Leonardo (RB), Luke (RB), Winnie, Chuck,
Frankie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WHERE YOU ARE IS WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What about the rights of people who don't believe in God?
The great Carl Sagan being one of those.
Freedom of religion also means freedom FROM religion.
Not everyone believes in a virgin birth, a man rising from the death, the bible. Satan.
If you had to explain God, Jesus and the Saints to a person who had never heard of them what would you say? How would you explain it?
A virgin birth, not possible. Rising from the dead, not possible. If a person asked you for proof what would you show them? What physical proof do we have? The bible, yes but it was written by men, great story tellers perhaps, but proof? I can't think of any physical proof, the fact that we are here can be explained by the Big Bang. But who created the Big Bang, why God of course and who created God??
Faith is something we are taught often from an early age. Our parents take us to the church of their choice and we learn that churchs beliefs.
Very few people that I know actually researched their faith their church. They go where their parents or grandparents went or they marry into it.
We take more time picking out a car then we do finding a church often.
If people were to study religion, different faiths and then as adults choose which faith, which belief and which church if any they wanted to attend I wonder how our world would be different. I wonder if people would be more understanding, more excepting and tolerant if others.
The Jewish people don't believe Jesus was the son of God, for Christians this is a must, but why? Because the church taught them.
Again what proof do we have that God is really there except for our need to know that some being will always love us, care for us, protect us, guide us. For we are truly fragil creatures. Confused, often unloved, forgotten, left to fend for ourselves. We watch our loved ones die, husbands, chidlren, friends, neighbors and we are afraid. God help us, I am ill, cure me for I don't want to die. The need of us humans to have hope to believe in a being that can cause a miracle is truly what is behind many peoples need to pray and for a God. For we know that life is short and perhaps we cannot bare the thought of it ending forever. Death, dead gone that's it. No heaven, no hell just totally gone. As humans we are too self-centered to believe that. We need to believe that life will go on somehow, we will go to heaven, it can't just end, it can't. 5000 years ago the Egyptians felt the same way. They had never heard of Jesus of course but that did not stop them from praying to the sun, moon and countless other Gods. They built the Pryamids to house the dead to travel to the afterlife. Again that human need to live on. I believe that fear makes us want, need to believe in an afterlife. It did 5000 years ago and I don't think much has changed, we fear death just as much. We just pray to a different God now.
Being a good person, decent, kind, honest, hardworking, loving,f orgiving, excepting has nothing to do with a person's faith. We find these people in all places on the earth and in all houses of worship on the same side we find evil, hurt, lust, greed, murder in all places on this earth and all houses of worship. No religion that I know of teaches us to be evil, they all teach goodness and love. It's just to what extreme you are willing to take it and what rights you want to take away from another because yours are correct and their's are not. In the middle east they are willing to strap a bomb to themselves to prove their point, hard to understand but I guess that is how they read their bible, don't know. Again if people had to study religion, all different faiths and decide based on logic what made sense to them. Would the world be a better place? Would they still believe in God or in just a higher being?

You have every right to not believe in God or in anything for that matter. If it pleases you to believe you came from an ape, well go for it. If you prefer to believe in nothing with no hope for eternity, well, that's your right too. And the big bang? So, where did the things that came together to make the big bang come from? The elements had to have been created somehow by something or someone.

BUT you DO NOT have the right to keep me from worshiping my God just because you don't like it.

You may think Car Sagan was great but he is not even a pimple in the course of my life.

I know for a fact that there is life after death so don't even try that one on me. Just several things that have happened in my life that I don't care to share with the world but that happened none the less.

Last edited by momoffuzzyfaces; 03-27-2009 at 10:36 AM.

No matter what anyone does, someone some where will be offended some how!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MY BLESSINGS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grandma (RB), Chester, Angel, Chip
Leonardo (RB), Luke (RB), Winnie, Chuck,
Frankie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WHERE YOU ARE IS WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Actually I do believe in God and was brought up in the church, life after death, I can't bare to think of not seeing my mom in heaven. That said.........This is America and people have the right to be free of religion and still be thought of as good people.Easter the most holy of the holidays keeps changing. What day did Christ raise from the dead, no one seems to really know? So how can we be sure it happened?As to who created the big bang well who created God?If you are explaining your belief to a non-believer, if they want to truly know, truly understand your faith and why we believe this way what proof can you show them? Is there one piece of evidence one solid fact one scrap of physical proof or anything that we could show a person and say LOOK here it is, here is proof that this man was not just a good person but truly a God. Is there one? Anywhere???If your parents were Jewish or Amish or Budda and you were brought up in that faith, would your belief be as strong? Probably for it is what you were taught and what the people around you believed. We see our parents in their strong belief and they teach us that this is correct so of course we believe, why would they lie to us? So I ask again what proof do you have that a man can rise from the dead, that a virgin birth can occur that all these miracles happened? You have the bible and heresay. That is what faith is. It's the blind, unproven belief deep in your soul that you hope is correct taught by others that believed the same way. It is not based on any fact, unless I missed something. So when a child asks is Jesus real, show me, well show them what?

Originally Posted by momoffuzzyfaces

You have every right to not believe in God or in anything for that matter. If it pleases you to believe you came from an ape, well go for it. If you prefer to believe in nothing with no hope for eternity, well, that's your right too. And the big bang? So, where did the things that came together to make the big bang come from? The elements had to have been created somehow by something or someone.

BUT you DO NOT have the right to keep me from worshiping my God just because you don't like it.

You may think Car Sagan was great but he is not even a pimple in the course of my life.

I know for a fact that there is life after death so don't even try that one on me. Just several things that have happened in my life that I don't care to share with the world but that happened none the less.

To quote the King James version of the scripture: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". - Hebrews 11:1 The Living Bible says it a bit differently: "Faith...is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead".`

All we have is evidence. We don't have proof positive of a God or we wouldn't be having this discussion. We would all be in agreement. To say that we know absolutely would be arrogant because we don't really know. We do, however, have evidence, strong evidence of a supreme being. We can't see the wind but we can feel and see its effects. It would be foolish to deny the existence of the wind but how do we prove that it actually exists? We can't; we only have evidence by what it can do. We have faith, the evidence of things not seen.

As for virgin births: cloning is an example of a modern day version of it.

No matter what anyone does, someone some where will be offended some how!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MY BLESSINGS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grandma (RB), Chester, Angel, Chip
Leonardo (RB), Luke (RB), Winnie, Chuck,
Frankie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WHERE YOU ARE IS WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I would rather believe in God (heaven & all the rest), than not believe,
die and find out how wrong I was.

Twitter us when you get there/find out, Please?

I am sorry and it's not meant to be mean spirited or anything like that! I just had this funny idea that maybe you could let us in on what to expect! It's ven more funny because I choose not to own a phone, so I'll be the last to know.

I am sorry and it's not meant to be mean spirited or anything like that! I just had this funny idea that maybe you could let us in on what to expect! It's ven more funny because I choose not to own a phone, so I'll be the last to know.

Richard you are SO funny!!!

First off, why do you think she will cross over before you do?

Plus, you don't twitter on the phone, you twitter on a computer. Right?

No matter what anyone does, someone some where will be offended some how!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MY BLESSINGS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grandma (RB), Chester, Angel, Chip
Leonardo (RB), Luke (RB), Winnie, Chuck,
Frankie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WHERE YOU ARE IS WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I would rather believe in God (heaven & all the rest), than not believe,
die and find out how wrong I was.

One of my favorite conundrums...who will be more disappointed - those who believe in life after death or those who don't?

I was interviewing a candidate for a sales job - on the phone. He tells me he likes to discuss scriptures with clients. He tells me a story of falling on his kness in the men's room for advice on a difficult sale.

I was uncomfortable. I don't care - Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Wiccan, none of the above...I don't think that kind of conversation belongs in the workplace. ESPECIALLY when you do not know the affliation of the person with whom you are speaking.